ANNUAL MEDIA CENSUS EXPANDED

THE second annual census of the audio-visual industries has been expanded to include front-of-camera occupations as well as computer games and the wider film industry.
Due to the success of the first census last year, the Audio-Visual Industries Training Group (AVITG) report, which is due to be launched soon, has recommended that the census becomes an annual survey.
Roger Laughton, Chair of the Audio Visual Industries Training Group, said: "The establishment of an annual census has been one of the major achievements of the Audio-Visual Industries Training Group, and has provided ground-breaking new information on the industry. I am particularly pleased to note the scope and coverage of the Census - we will now learn more about those working in front of camera, in computer games and in the wider film industry."
Skillset, the National Training Organisation for the audio-visual industries manages the survey on behalf of the industry. This year, Skillset and Equity will also attempt to discover how many people are working as performers and presenters on census day, how many of those people are of ethnic origin and other information in order to develop training strategies for this sector.
Dinah Caine, Chief Executive of Skillset, said: "Last year`s census was a massive success for the first year with 100 per cent of broadcasters responding. It is now up to the industry to ensure this becomes embedded as an annual process so labour force changes can be tracked year on year and training solutions developed to ensure the economic growth of the industry continues."
Last year the census revealed that the audio-visual industry in the UK is far bigger than previously thought with around 116,000 people working in the industry on May 19, 2000.
Ian McGarry, General Secretary of Equity, said the results of the census would allow Equity to get a more accurate picture of our membership and how it works.
The Census, which will take place on Wednesday 20th June, aims to capture data from companies of all sizes, but not from individuals. (SP)